i am longtime pin player as well as op and collector,
i see
1. a theme that if done at all should have been done 20 to 40 yrs ago
2. widebodys are rarely a hit
3. a game that is overpriced,
4, and how hard is the parts service / distribution going to be?
i see one word with this
'flop"
Glad you are not my business advisor. I'm a longtime pin player (40+ years), sort-of-operator (OK, 1 game out), pin repair person, and restrained collector. What I see in WOZ is:
1. a theme that is universally known and family-friendly
2. a widebody that lets you fit more in a feature-packed game, and which may be a huge hit like TZ, IJ, STTNG, etc. that came before it (thx for saying it first, SilverU!)
3. A game that seems bargain-priced compared to the alternatives, given all of the detailed and new features packed into it: LCD display with tons of graphics and *real* movie clips instead of fuzzy orange animations; another awesome sound package from Chris Granner with killer music coming out of a decent sound system, plus headphone jacks; really neat not-off-the-shelf-and-glued-on toys like a custom spinning house, a melting witch, enchanted forest pop bumpers, a green-lit wizard's face, a crystal ball, a flying monkey ball lock; very cool pf features like 2 mini-pf's including a challenging witch's castle, a pop bumper with targets in an outlane, some interesting diverters and VUKs, 5 flippers in total; one of the best rule sets in a pinball game ever to date, along with a ton of pf inserts and lcd graphics to go with them; and a very attractive hand-painted graphics package.
4. Use of standard WMS parts and a simpler interconnect system that avoids miles of wire bundles, plus proper use of LEDs and a control/processing system based on modern technology, all to increase reliability and ease of service.
The LEs have been sold out for a while. The real test of success will be how many regular versions will sell once the game is out there and being played. I predict a lot, even at the higher price level. The comparison of what you'll get in WOZ as compared to a recent Stern LE model at a similar price point is silly--WOZ will look like a ridiculous bargain.
As for the original question, I suspect the closest parallel in shot flow/gameplay will be Twilight Zone, but without the horrible pops by an outlane and with more cool combos and FAR deeper and better-integrated rules and graphics and sound... Given Keefer's previous programming, I expect that you can play a 'catch, control, and aim' type of game, but that some modes will give you lots of points for continuous flow shooting and fast combos.